Building a Community Through Art

The summer of 2024 I was given the opportunity to intern at Hospitality House, an amazing nonprofit providing housing and homelessness relief services. From staff to residents everyone involved with Hospitality House is amazing and so deeply caring for those around them. I saw a lot of interns finding their niches within Hospitality House whether it was gardening, yoga, or working in the kitchen. I have always been an artistic person, never putting myself into sports but always diving head first into every art class and club I could be a part of. Until recently I had thought that my art only helped me to destress and relax after a long day. However, Hospitality House gave me so many opportunities to bring my art to the community and use it to help other people around me. During my internship, I was able to work with Art In Community which is a small weekly group meeting where residents can come and create anything they want with art supplies provided by the organization. While only a few people attend it is by far my favorite part of my week. With it being such an intimate and calm environment I have been able to connect deeply with the people who do come and we all leave feeling much better about our weeks. Watching the difference between the people when they first enter the room versus when they leave shows such a huge difference in their attitude and how they hold themselves. Art has that distinct ability to allow people to break away from their stress and just be themselves for a while.

Seeing how well Art in Community was working it inspired me to be a bit braver about pushing people to do more art around the shelter. One day I was watching a resident style someone's hair and he seemed so happy while doing it. He was smiling and talking with the person in the chair the entire time. After talking to him for a bit I found out that he also cuts hair and loves to do so. I offered to let him cut most of my hair off and he said he'd be more then happy to. It was one of the most amazing experiences I've had during my internship. We talked about his life the entire hour he was cutting my hair and it was probably the deepest connection I've made with a resident. In the end, I tried compensating him for it but he said he loved doing it and getting to talk so, he wouldn't take any money. I still ended up bringing him Bojangles one day and he said it made his day. Giving people the space to practice and perform their crafts makes such a difference and it inspired me to keep creating spaces for other residents to do so.

I did this by setting up a beaded bracelet-making booth at the next Savor the Summer event held at Hospitality House. Savor the Summer is an event where Hospitality House hires about six different food trucks to come and serve the residents at zero cost to them. It's a phenomenal event and if you ever get the opportunity to go I highly recommend it. There are often many families with young children that attend and I thought that it would be really fun for the kids to be able to make something of their own. I did not realize that it would be such a hit among the adults as well. Everyone loved the idea and was so excited to make something themselves it brought them so much joy. It also made me

happy to see their accomplishments and creativity with the bracelets.

Overall, I will forever be grateful to Hospitality House for allowing me the space to explore how my art can help others. It has taught me so much about myself and has been overwhelmingly fulfilling. It also has helped me narrow down a career and from now on I will be exploring ways I can keep bringing art to others and using it as a therapeutic medium.